Connor Jones batted .600 with eight runs batted in during a three-game sweep of Georgetown last weekend.

May 20, 2013

VILLANOVA, Pa. -
Following a terrific weekend that included a series sweep at Georgetown both junior right fielder Connor Jones (Chandler, Ariz.) and senior starting pitcher Stephen Ostapeck (Sacramento, Calif.) have earned weekly recognition for their performances. Jones was named to the weekly BIG EAST Honor Roll and was also selected as the Philadelphia Big Five Player of the Week, while Ostapeck is the Big Five Pitcher of the Week.

Jones batted .600 (9-for-15) while driving in eight runs in the series against the Hoyas, with three straight multi-hit games helping him raise his season batting average by nearly 40 points during the weekend. Jones connected for two doubles and two home runs in the series, scored four times and had eight RBI while posting a .647 on-base percentage and a 1.133 slugging percentage. Earlier in the week he had a single and an RBI at Penn State in the final non-conference game of the season.

In the series opener at Georgetown, Jones singled and scored the first run of the game to help pace the Wildcats to an 8-0 victory. He also hit a solo home run later in the contest but saved his best efforts for the final two games of the season. In a 12-9 victory on Friday afternoon Jones tied a career high with four hits, going 4-for-5 with a double, run scored and two RBI. In the season finale a day later he contributed a three-run double and a two-run home run to an 11-1 victory.

Jones finished the year as Villanova's top hitter against conference opponents. He hit .325 with a .441 on-base percentage and a .597 slugging percentage versus BIG EAST foes, with all five of his home runs and 26 of his 33 runs batted in for the season. Jones finished the year second on the team in home runs (5), runs scored (25), runs batted in (33) and walks (27).

The 8-0 victory to open the series against the Hoyas featured the latest in a string of terrific pitching performances by Ostapeck, who fired the third complete game shutout of his career and earned his first win of the season. Ostapeck made six quality starts this season and allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight of his 12 outings.

Ostapeck struck out five in the shutout against Georgetown, while yielding just four hits and three walks. He escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the second inning when the game was still scoreless and then allowed just five base runners in the final seven innings from that point on. Ostapeck retired nine of the last 10 and 12 of the final 14 batters of the game to close out the victory.

Stephen Ostapeck pitched the third complete game shutout of his career in an 8-0 win over Georgetown.

During his Wildcats career Ostapeck allowed three earned runs or less in 14 of the 21 starts that he made. He also appeared in 34 games as a reliever and in his 55 career outings gave up just four home runs to 782 batters faced. Ostapeck also had a 2.5-to-1 career strikeout ratio with 100 strikeouts compared to just 40 walks in 175.0 career innings pitched.